What went down at last night’s Versace show

Last night in a colossal, circular hall in Milan, Donatella Versace tapped a star-studded line-up to model her latest collection. The clothes themselves were signature Versace – flashes of metallic, the iconic Medusa head and super-short hemlines provided the high-octane glamour that has become the house’s trademark. However, it wouldn’t be a Versace show without a few famous faces and a headline or two – this season, the headline latched on to by tabloids was a wardrobe malfunction courtesy of Insta it-girl and campaign star Gigi Hadid. From runway appearances by Dazed favourites to frenzied fans battling for selfies, here’s exactly what went down at last night’s show.

A CAST OF MODELLING BEHEMOTHS

Donatella sure knows how to pick ‘em – backstage, the names stuck above hangers were like a who’s who of the women defining modelling today. You had the new social media supers, like Kendall and Gigi, the legends, like Mariacarla Boscono and Jamie Bochert, the Angels, like Adriana Lima and Natasha Poly, and the girls of the moment – like Dazed 100 favourites and cover stars Lineisy Montero and Rianne van Rompaey, who closed the show.

ZIP ME UP, ZIP ME DOWN

The show notes spoke of a woman who was “energetic, active and in control”. Aesthetically, this translated into a diverse wardrobe designed for the streets, not just the runway. There were belted coats, zip detail mini dresses with peekaboo slits and skin-tight ribbed knits, cropped and adorned with go-faster stripes. “This collection is so important to me,” said a quote from Donatella. “Every single piece is wearable, desirable, real. It's about expressing a woman’s strength and her individuality.”

WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS HAPPEN

Proceedings got underway with a little help from the aforementioned Gigi Hadid, who apparently flew in specially for the occasion, and posed for pictures post show with Donatella. Strutting down the runway in her second look – a slinky, backless black dress, a braless Hadid had something of a wardrobe malfunction. It’s unfortunate to see that and know immediately that it’ll be splashed all over the tabloids – but as Hadid tweeted: “Wardrobe malfunctions happen on the runway every day of fw & are...unfortunate, lol, but let’s talk instead about the new VERSACE CHOKERS”. Well said.

POST SHOW MANIA

If the crowd had that gathered before the show was impressive (maybe the giant VERSACE sign tipped them off), it had nothing on the scrum that awaited models as they tried to exit afterwards. Case in point: Karlie Kloss and Jourdan Dunn – as they were whisked away to their cars iPhones were raised, paparazzi cameras flashed, people surged for selfies, and desperate fans declared love. As the fashion industry questions its systems of shows and shopping, it felt like evidence of just why the runway will remain important. Rather than just an occasion to debut a new collection to a select few, it’s a 360 degree spectacle – one that people will always be keen to consume.